Friday Headlines
the weekly newsletter from EHS
Prep Musician of the Year
18 March 2022
After several weeks of preliminary rounds held by the Music Staff and difficult decisions made, the finalists for our Prep Musician of the Year competition were selected.
The final was held on Thursday 10 March in the Octagon where everyone felt a sense of occasion to be back performing in person, with a live audience. The adjudicator for the evening, with the very difficult job of selecting a winner was Fiona McCanlis, a university friend of both Mr Robson and Mr Southall.
Fiona studied Piano Performance at Birmingham Conservatoire under the tutelage of Margaret Newman. During her time there she developed a passion for Chamber Music and accompanying and was a finalist in the Delia Hall Accompaniment Competition. After graduating with a BMus (Hons) in 2009 she continued her studies at Birmingham City University to complete her PGCE in Secondary Music Education. In her spare time Fiona enjoys song writing and has performed her own songs at an Introducing Session for BBC Hereford & Worcester which was aired on the radio in 2014.
The finalists in each year group performed their pieces with poise and confidence and it was clear that they enjoyed their Music studies. Whilst Ms McCanlis adjourned to make her decision the audience was treated to an impressive vocal performance from last year’s winner Nia who is now in Year 5.
Year 3 finalists were Avani, Lara, Jessica, Eliza and Davica.
Year 4 finalists were Amaya, Naima, Sienna, Anna, Jessica and Emma.
Year 5 finalists were Josephine, Lucy, Fatima-Zahra, Joanna and Anya.
Year 6 finalists were Freya, Aliyya, Polly, Risha, Catrin and Edith.
Fiona congratulated the girls on the standard of their performances and the confidence with which they performed. She also noted how important it was to communicate and to develop a musical relationship between performer and audience.
The year group winners were announced as Davica on piano (Year 3), Sienna and Emma on flute and piano respectively (Year 4), Anya on flute (Year 5) and Edith on vocals (Year
6).
The overall winner and Prep Young Musician for 2022 was announced as Jessica in Year 3 who treated us to Vivaldi’s Violin Concerto in A Minor; a very mature performance
of a difficult piece!
Our thanks to all of our young musicians, parents, Fiona, the Music Department and all teachers who have supported our girls through the process to create a fantastic evening of live music.
Mr Skilbeck
Deputy Director of Music
Prep Musician of the Year
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